Tag: rutherford

Tucked away within the tranquil confines of Rutherford on a gorgeous estate in the heart of the Napa Valley, Sullivan Vineyards is the realization of founder Jim Sullivan’s dream to create high-quality, high-end wines.

It all started when Jim and his wife Joanna received an arbor of grape vine cuttings as a wedding present. Though a seemingly simple gift, the cuttings inspired Jim to try his hand at winemaking, and as his skills grew, so did his passion for producing superior wines.

The story of Bello Family Vineyards is proof that success does breed success. Family patriarch Michael Bello, who has always set high goals and worked tirelessly to achieve them, had two lifetime dreams. The first was to own a champion racehorse and the second was to produce a champion wine.

He made both possible in 2000, when he purchased real estate in the Napa Valley’s Rutherford District and began building his estate with the meticulous construction of a farmhouse—the likes of which had never been seen in the valley.

When Tony and Herta (H.B.) purchased their 30-acre Rutherford, California, property in 1982, the vineyard grounds were wild and overgrown. Through passion and hard work, the Peju family has transformed their Rutherford Estate into Peju—a wine, architecture, and art lover’s paradise.

Today, 30 years later, Peju remains a family-owned and family-run estate winery with the next generation of the family, daughters Lisa and Ariana, taking over the day-to-day operations and leading the winery into the future.

Miljenko "Mike" Grgich, who co-founded Grgich Hills Estate with Austin Hills, started in the wine business at the bottom. Born into a winemaking family on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, one of his first memories is stomping grapes in a half-barrel when he was just 2.5-years-old.

Mike’s journey, from his peasant upbringing in communist Yugoslavia to Vintners Hall of Fame inductee in the Napa Valley, sounds like a Hollywood movie. He arrived in the Napa Valley in 1958 and worked for some of the region’s iconic wineries—Souverain, Christian Brothers, Beaulieu Vineyard, and Robert Mondavi Winery—before becoming winemaker at Chateau Montelena Winery.

With a Napa Valley winemaking history that dates back to 1948, the Trinchero family has gained an exceptional international reputation for producing fine small lot wines. Through the years, they have acquired a series of small vineyard sites in specific areas of the Napa Valley, targeted for their uniqueness. Trinchero Napa Valley in St. Helena, California now draws its grapes from seven distinctive vineyard sites in five of the valley’s designated appellations, and produces its wines in a new estate located just north of downtown St. Helena. The wines are showcased in a remodeled farmhouse, which dates back to the mid 1800s. It honors its founder, Mario Trinchero, who laid the foundation for what is now one of the nation’s most successful family businesses.

With a love for the Napa Valley that stretches back three generations, the Komes family provides wine tourists with both an ideal place to stay—Rancho Caymus Inn in Rutherford, California—and an ideal place to taste some magnificent wines—Flora Springs The Room in St. Helena.

Rancho Caymus Inn stands on land once awarded to pioneer George C. Yount as part of the Napa Valley’s first land grant. Today, the 26-suite inn provides guests an elegant retreat in the heart of the world-famous Rutherford Bench wine country. Guests appreciate the property’s connection to its heritage expressed in the keen attention to detail in the Spanish hacienda’s architectural design, materials, and furnishings. Each suite is named for a Napa Valley pioneer. Some names (like Black Bart and Robert Lewis Stevenson) are easily recognized, while others are not. Arriving guests are always delighted to learn the story of their pioneer that waits for them in their room.